Deepcar - Dunford old railway
Remains of electrification supports, north of Penistone station.
INFO:The Woodhead line was the Great Central railway route from Sheffield Victoria to Manchester Piccadilly.
It has - well had - a claim to fame as the first electrified main line railway in the UK, when it went live in 1953. Unfortunately, due to the evils of Beeching, the passenger services ceased to be on January 5th, 1970...along with Victoria itself.
Several small intermediate stations had already shut during the years up to its demise, with Neepsend, Wadsley Bridge, Oughtibridge, Deepcar and Wortley all having sold their last tickets by 1968. Wadsley remained partly open for football services until the late 80s, with loco hauled services which required retaining the loop at the western end of the station to change ends.
The line continued as a major goods corridor for several years, although the wires went in 1981. Passenger DMUs from Sheffield to Huddersfield used the route until 1983, reversing and travelling through Victoria, before being route through Barnsley instead. The track was lifted from north of Deepcar up to Hadfield between 1985-86. The surviving single track branches off left towards Stocksbridge steel works, alongside where a new shopping village is shortly to appear.
The trackbed continues as The Transpennine Trail from this point. The ten-and-a-half mile section passes west through Wortley, Thurgoland, Oxspring and Penistone where it junctions with the still current Sheffield/Barnsley-Huddersfield line. An also electrified branch from Wath near Rotherham brought coal trains up and across the Pennines - this diverged near Stairfoot and junctioned with the Barnsley-Huddersfield route near Oxspring. The line was lifted in 1981 - the trackbed is now better known as the Dove Valley trail.
Beyond Penistone the former GC line leaves to head on through Millhouse Green, Hazelhead and eventually Dunford Bridge where the closed Woodhead Tunnel cuts the path short.
The climb up from Penistone was as steep as 1 in 100 and trains that travelled from the Wath line were push-pulled by up to two electric locomotives at each end.
Cyclists and walkers with the strength to continue can climb the near vertical Windle Edge left out of Dunford and then trek over the Pennines to Woodhead Station where the track remerged into daylight. This six mile section onward to Hadfield continues as the Longendale Trail.
Deepcar - Dunford old railway
Remains of electrification supports, north of Penistone station.
INFO:The Woodhead line was the Great Central railway route from Sheffield Victoria to Manchester Piccadilly.
It has - well had - a claim to fame as the first electrified main line railway in the UK, when it went live in 1953. Unfortunately, due to the evils of Beeching, the passenger services ceased to be on January 5th, 1970...along with Victoria itself.
Several small intermediate stations had already shut during the years up to its demise, with Neepsend, Wadsley Bridge, Oughtibridge, Deepcar and Wortley all having sold their last tickets by 1968. Wadsley remained partly open for football services until the late 80s, with loco hauled services which required retaining the loop at the western end of the station to change ends.
The line continued as a major goods corridor for several years, although the wires went in 1981. Passenger DMUs from Sheffield to Huddersfield used the route until 1983, reversing and travelling through Victoria, before being route through Barnsley instead. The track was lifted from north of Deepcar up to Hadfield between 1985-86. The surviving single track branches off left towards Stocksbridge steel works, alongside where a new shopping village is shortly to appear.
The trackbed continues as The Transpennine Trail from this point. The ten-and-a-half mile section passes west through Wortley, Thurgoland, Oxspring and Penistone where it junctions with the still current Sheffield/Barnsley-Huddersfield line. An also electrified branch from Wath near Rotherham brought coal trains up and across the Pennines - this diverged near Stairfoot and junctioned with the Barnsley-Huddersfield route near Oxspring. The line was lifted in 1981 - the trackbed is now better known as the Dove Valley trail.
Beyond Penistone the former GC line leaves to head on through Millhouse Green, Hazelhead and eventually Dunford Bridge where the closed Woodhead Tunnel cuts the path short.
The climb up from Penistone was as steep as 1 in 100 and trains that travelled from the Wath line were push-pulled by up to two electric locomotives at each end.
Cyclists and walkers with the strength to continue can climb the near vertical Windle Edge left out of Dunford and then trek over the Pennines to Woodhead Station where the track remerged into daylight. This six mile section onward to Hadfield continues as the Longendale Trail.